Abstract
For optimal action planning, the gain/loss associated with actions and the variability in motor output should both be considered. A number of studies make conflicting claims about the optimality of human action planning but cannot be reconciled due to their use of different movements and gain/loss functions. The disagreement is possibly because of differences in the experimental design and differences in the energetic cost of participant motor effort. We used a coincident timing task, which requires decision making with constant energetic cost, to test the optimality of participant's timing strategies under four configurations of the gain function. We compared participant strategies to an optimal timing strategy calculated from a Bayesian model that maximizes the expected gain. We found suboptimal timing strategies under two configurations of the gain function characterized by asymmetry, in which higher gain is associated with higher risk of zero gain. Participants showed a risk-seeking strategy by responding closer than optimal to the time of onset/offset of zero gain. Meanwhile, there was good agreement of the model with actual performance under two configurations of the gain function characterized by symmetry. Our findings show that human ability to make decisions that must reflect uncertainty in one's own motor output has limits that depend on the configuration of the gain function.
Highlights
In highly skilled movement, especially in sports, decision making is important for superior performance
Of Results We directly evaluated the relationship between the optimality of action plans and the configuration of the gain function
Larger compensation occurred following miss trials compared with success trials even though the experienced response errors were of the same magnitude
Summary
Especially in sports, decision making is important for superior performance. A tennis player requires a spatial action plan about where in a court they should aim; a ski jumper requires a temporal action plan about when they should take off. An executed action is associated with a gain/loss. In whatever action they plan, an executed action is not always equal to the planned one because of motor variability (Schmidt et al, 1979; Kudo et al, 2000; van Beers et al, 2004). Both gain/loss associated with action and uncertainty in motor output should be considered for better decision making
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